Centre's railway budget slammed by Left and Right

Train fares remain unchanged. Charges on some services such as tatkal and reservation will be hiked. Freight charges will rise. The extant, unreliable e-reservation system will be replaced. As many as 106 new trains will be introduced. A swanky coach will be added on select trains. And all key stations will have escalators.

These are some high points of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s Rs 63,363 crore maiden annual budget for his ministry tabled in the lower house of parliament yesterday that borders on populism with a fair dose of measures on fiscal discipline, safety and travel comfort.

The other highlights include seven more executive lounges at key stations, elimination of unmanned level crossings, sprucing up the Railway Protection Force for the safety of passengers especially women, deployment of a new anti-collision system, free wi-Fi in select trains and modern kitchens with strict quality control.

“The growth of Indian Railways is inextricably linked with the growth of the country,” Bansal said in his 80-minute budget speech — the last such annual exercise for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government before the next general election scheduled in 2014.

“Indian Railways must remain financially sustainable so that resources generated can be ploughed back for efficient upkeep, operation and maintenance of the system itself for the benefit of the rail users,” he said, setting the tone for frequent adjustments in train fares and freight tariff.

“The UPA government is sensitive to the needs of the people and it was after some wide consultations that some revision was effected in fares from Jan 22,” he said of the recent hike in fares, while also proposing revisions in freight tariff based on fluctuations in fuel charges.

“As regards to passenger fares, since these were revised only in January this year, I do not intend to pass on the additional burden to them now and railways will absorb the impact of Rs 850 crore on this account,” said Bansal, the first Congress party minister to present a rail budget in 17 years.

“It is a reformist and forward looking budget which presents a realistic picture of railway finances,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said of the budget, even as the Opposition called it wanting in a host of areas.

“The rail budget has definitely exposed the UPA government’s inability and the lack of vision to revive the ailing Indian Railways,” said Rajnath Singh, BJP president.

Bansal said that he was happy to note that the operating ratio of Indian Railways — money spent on recurring costs such as salaries, wages and interest to earn Rs 1 in revenue — had come down to 88 paise from around 95 paise.

Hike in charges>> Passengers will have to shell out more for services such as tatkal, which has been hiked from a minimum of Rs 75 now to Rs 90 for a sleeper class ticket and from Rs 200 to Rs 300 for an executive class ticket>> Clerk charges have been hiked by Rs 5-10>> Cancellation charges have been raised by between Rs 10 and 50>> The enhanced reservation fee has been scrapped>> The hike in freight works out to around an average of 5.8 percent